Journey to Live
by two authors
Summary: The world on the other side of the gate. What happened to the Elric brothers after the portal was destroyed for good? Will Edward find the love of his life? movie spoilers
1. Katrina and the Attic

Katrina stepped up the creaking stairs, to the top floor, taking care to watch her step. Mama had often lectured her about over exerting herself. "Suppose you'd have fallen and hurt yourself?" she would always ask. Katrina rolled her eyes at the thought and leaned on her crutch as she descended upward. She was 15 years old and had been crippled all her life. Her left ankle bone bent, turning the sole of her foot outward. This enabled her to stand straight on her left leg. While it caused everyone else to pity her, Katrina never viewed her deformity as a horrid burden, although it did slow her down a bit. She couldn't run and play well with her cousins. So she was often left alone where she would read in the peace and quiet.

Katrina adored her books. Her favorites were of adventures and magic. Her books were her window to the outside world and too many others. Unfortunately, since reading was her greatest pastime, she was soon running out of new materials. So she started searching the house for something else to do. That was when she started making trip upstairs to the attic. Her mother never had the heart to throw anything away. There were stacks of boxes of old photos and clothes and keepsakes from relatives from generations back. It was funny though, it all seemed to come from her mother's side. She never remembered seeing much from her father's side of the family. There were only a few things around the house, such as a photo of her father and her grandfather, when her father was still a child, but not much more than that.

After finally reaching the top of the stairs, Katrina set to the most difficult part of her trip to the attic, the ladder to the attic door. Her ankle made it difficult to balance on the latter while lifting the door through the ceiling and carrying her crutch at the same time. She had to rely on the strength of her upper body. She tucked her crutch under her left arm and placed her good foot on the first step of the ladder and stood of it. Her left foot dangled under her. She reached her right arm to the farthest step she could reach, and her left as far without dropping the crutch. She took a breath and lifted her body and brought her right foot two steps higher. She paused for a second than did the same again. With one more left after that she reached the door. She lifted the door up so it flipped back on the attic floor. She placed her crutch aside by so to use both arm in pushing herself up to sit on the attic floor. "Success!" she said happily to herself "How about THAT, Mom?" Katrina closed the door and proceeded to look around.

It didn't take her long to start rummaging through the old boxes and baskets. Perhaps she'd find an old book of her grandmothers. After a few minutes of sorting through some familiar things, Katrina spotted something in the corner of room. It was covered with a white sheet that caught the light from the sun through the window. "Hmm…what's that?" Katrina limped over to the window and removed the sheet. It was a brown trunk. She didn't remember seeing this before. There was no lock, but it obviously hadn't been opened for years, for it creaked when Katrina opened it. The dust from its contents hung in the air for a minute before she could peek inside.

There was what looked like some old clothes, an old fashioned brown coat, some trousers, a shirt, looked like they might have been from the 20s. But something caught Katrina's eye. She pulled out what looked like a coat…or perhaps it was a cape. It wasn't like anything Katrina had ever seen in the attic. It was bright red, which was how it stood out from anything else in the trunk. Katrina turned the fabric around in her hands to get a good look it. There was a rather peculiar black symbol on the back of it. It looked something like a cross with something weaving around it, kind of like a snake. There was also a crown and wings on the top. "That's odd…" Katrina said softly. Perhaps it was some sort of religious symbol. It was odd, yet strangely beautiful. The teenager slipped off her sweater and tried on the coat. She looked in the old full length mirror that was kept up there. She un-tucked her long blonde hair from the coat and it hung loosely around her shoulders. Then she put up the red hood. The girl smiled at her reflection, remembering "Little Red Riding Hood" and pushed the hood back again. She liked this coat.

Katrina brought her attention back to the trunk, hoping to find more interesting things. It was then she came upon some old papers. They looked just notes and perhaps some letters. She rummaged a little more and found a couple of books. They were both black and leather bound. She opened to the first page. It was all hand written in ink. "A journal…" Katrina said. She considered on putting the book back in the trunk but curiosity got the better of her. And besides, whoever wrote it probably wouldn't mind…by now anyway. So she read the first entry.

_June 13th 1924_

_As much as Brother thinks it's childish and somewhat dangerous for us to be keeping journals, I feel it is important for us to document our history, travels and accomplishments. My memories are especially important to me. One of my worst fears is I will wake up and not remember my past. Not remembering those four years I had spent traveling with Brother was an awful feeling that I hope to never experience again! But if it should happen, I will have this journal to help me remember._

_It's hard to imagine that we've been in this place for about a year. It's so different from back home. I'm trying hard to adapt. Brother seems to be doing okay, but he has already been here longer than me. Not being able to use alchemy was certainly a challenge for me at first. It was like a part of me that had been taken away. The ways of the world here are so different. Much different than where we grew up as boys. We went by one law. "Human kind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost." That is alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange. This those days, we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth._

_Alphonse Elric_

Katrina's eyes widened and read the name again. "Alphonse…Grandpa Al?"

(A/N: So what do you think? I have more coming soon!)


	2. Brothers in London

"Hey Al! Aren't you done writing in that thing?"

Alphonse Elric looked up from the table to see his brother, Edward, who was slipping on his coat. "Uh-uh…just finished." He answered.

Edward looked in the mirror as he tied his long hair back. "Don't you think we're a bit old for keeping diaries?" Ed regretted saying it as soon as he finished. He saw the somewhat hurt look in his younger brother's eyes. "Sorry Al. I just worry. I'm not sure what would happen should that book fall into the wrong hands. We don't need people asking about us or our past."

"I know, Ed. I'll be careful I promise." Al said as he tucked the journal away. Edward nodded "I'm going out to get a newspaper."

"I'll go with you." Al went quickly to get his coat. They then left the small flat they shared and proceeded onto London's busy streets. A year ago, when Eckhart of the Thule Society invaded their world, Alphonse and Edward were reunited after two years of separation. Edward and Alphonse managed to stop Eckhart in her plans of destroying their home. But Edward knew he had to go back to the other side of the gate, and destroy it. Even though it wasn't Ed's plan, Alphonse came back with him, to Germany. Al refused to ever be separated from his brother again. A world away was simply too far. Afterward, the boys agreed that this new world was to be their home. So they would play their parts in it.

It was then that they began their journey to find and destroy uranium bomb. Unfortunately, they have so far been unsuccessful. After a few month's they managed to travel to England. Edward hoped that they would have better luck here for he remembered this to be where the gate originally brought him. It was the home of the Edward from this world.

Ed found a paperboy at the corner and paid the 10 year old for a copy. He leaned against the brick wall of the building they were standing by to look through it. Nothing of seriousness…so it had been for the past few weeks. Things seem to be at a bit of a stand still in London. This made Ed feel a bit uneasy. He was never one for relaxing. Alphonse on the other hand felt much more at ease. He found England very much to his liking. People were friendly here. For the short time he was in Germany, he noticed how bitter many of the people had become after the last war. Somehow he had hoped that this world would be different from the one they left behind. Al craved for a world without pain and suffering. Unfortunately they haven't reached that world yet. For now they would have to make do.

Al heard his brother let out a sigh. "Still nothing…" he said. "This is even worse than our search for the Philosopher Stone. We got no leads whatsoever." Ed shook his head as he folded the newspaper and handed it to his younger brother. Al nodded "And this is probably not something that the public would particularly want to read about. People would rather not know about this sort of thing. Like the war in Ishbal…"

"We can only hope that nothing of that will occur here…" Ed said.

"I had asked you this before a year ago, Ed. Do you think we should pursue this? Get involved in the wars of this world? Nobody said we had too…"

"No Al…we made that decision when we chose to come here. We chose to live here and make it our home. So we do carry some responsibility for it. We are not all that matter. We have to care for those around us as well as ourselves." Edward looked up and watched as they saw two little boys crossing the street with their mother. For a quick moment he could have sworn his saw himself and Alphonse clasping their mother's hands. But the moment past quickly and he realized they were only strangers passing by.

"I understand, Brother." Alphonse said finally. _And I'll follow wherever you go. As long as I'm by your side, Brother, I will always be home. _He thought in silence.

"But for now…with no leads, and no Mustang or the State to nag us…I guess we could just lay low for awhile…at least until something comes up. No use in wasting our energy right?" Ed asked.

"Right!" Al smiled. To be honest, he was hoping they could take a sort of vacation. The last time they had even thought they were going to have one was when their Izumi was taking them to her Island to see if they were worth training in Alchemy. Al suddenly felt his heart ache at the thought of their beloved Teacher. She had past on a little over a year before. Ed and Al hadn't spoke of her much, choosing to mourn in silence. They knew she wouldn't want them to dwell so on sorrows of the past. You had to keep moving forward as is the way not only in alchemy but for life. It was hard for the brothers to think that she was really gone, Ed especially. Even though she had near beat the crap out of him, nobody would miss her more than Edward.

Al now carried the newspaper and started to flip through it as the two boys headed down the street towards the corner bakery. Maybe they could find something of entertainment. Then Al found an article near the bottom of the page. It was a review for a play. "Brother, feel like a trip to the theatre?"

"Katrina!" a voice sounded suddenly.

Katrina's head jerked up from the journal. She heard her Mother's voice coming from down stairs and the sound of footsteps drawing near. "Katrina, where have you gone?" her mom called again. She quickly slammed the book shut and put it back in the trunk. She was about to try and stand when she realized she was still wearing the red coat. She slipped it off and placed it in the trunk with the journals. She closed the box as fast and as quietly as she could. She had managed to stand and balance her crutch when the attic door opened and her mother popped her head in.

"Katrina! What on earth?!"

The young blonde gulped as she tried to search her mind for an explanation. When nothing came out her mother sighed. "I told you not to come snooping around up here, especially not on your own!"

"I wasn't snooping around and I can take care of myself!" Katrina answered back, earning a stern look from her mother.

"Don't take that tone with me, young lady. It's dangerous up here. Lord knows how many rats nests there must be…and you know I don't want you climbing this old ladder."

"Look at me, Mama, I'm fine!" Katrina insisted, as she limped towards the attic door. Her mother sighed again. "Listen to you," she said, looking her daughter up and down "stubborn as your grandfather. That must be where you get that cheek from, for it certainly wasn't from me! Now come along, supper is on the table and we're all waiting for you!"

As Katrina's mother climbed down the latter, the teenager turned and glanced again at the lonely trunk in the corner. She'll have to continue the reading later.


	3. New Discoveries

(A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this one took so long! But I wanted to try to make this chapter longer! Here you go! Enjoy!)

"Go wash up, quickly now. Knowing your father and grandpa, they probably couldn't wait to start." Katrina's mother shook her head, as she headed down the staircase. Katrina just smiled and headed into the bathroom to wash her hands. Mother was probably right, her grandfather was never patient and her father was the same. When she finally came down stairs she could hear them talking with Mother in the dinning room.

"You men are always in a rush. Can't we ever wait for everyone to be at the table?"

"Darling, we had been sitting for fifteen minutes, we didn't want it to get cold…" Katrina recognized this second voice to be her father's. "Where was she anyway?"

"She was in the attic again. Henry I don't want her up going up there." Katrina stopped at the dinning room door and listened.

"Lucy, she's not in a bubble…" Her father said.

"But still I worry. It's hard for her with a bad leg." For a moment there was only silence. Then Katrina could hear the sound of chair being pushed back from the table. That's when she heard the third voice. "A "bad leg" never stopped me." The voice said slowly. "Let the girl go, Lucy. Don't cripple her any more than she is." And with that, the sound of footsteps, one much heavier than the other, echoed as the third voice left the dining room. Katrina heard the door to the study open and close. She chose that moment to enter the dining room. "I'm sorry I'm late, Papa." Katrina said calmly. She decided to pretend she hadn't heard any of the conversation that had taken place only moments before. "It's alright, dearest." Her father said as he pulled out a chair for his teenage daughter. As Katrina sat down, Henry pushed her chair in and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Now you'll have to excuse me ladies," he said heading for the study "but I think I should have a talk with the old man…"

"I heard that!" the voice called from the study. Henry chuckled and went inside.

Katrina stirred the bowl of soup that sat in front of her. She didn't have much of an appetite at the moment. She just wanted to go back upstairs. Her mother sat stiffly across from her. She knew that Katrina had heard what they were talking about, she couldn't be fooled. Lucy never meant to be so strict or sound so cruel, but ever since Katrina was born she had feared for her daughter's life. At birth she was such a weak baby and the doctors were skeptical about her health. They told her she would most likely die. But Katrina was a spirited child and as time went on she grew, and got stronger and quite pretty. It was only her leg that stood out so abnormally.

Katrina's mind was back in the attic. What did that journal mean? She turned and looked over to the study door where her father had entered. She had so many questions. She was aching to go to Gramps and ask him. Somehow she knew he had the answers. But something held her back. She wanted to go back and read more from the journal first. Besides if she asked Grandpa, he might be suspicious of her snooping. She would have to get back up to the attic. 'Problem is that after tonight, Momma will be watching me like a hawk.' Katrina thought. 'I won't be able to set foot in there for a second let alone long enough to read that thing.' So Katrina decided she would have to take the journal when she found it next. She just had to wait for the proper time 'Although I know I'll burst if it's not soon!' she thought.

It was a sunny afternoon, the kind where the sky was beautiful blue with a warm gentle breeze that kept the white clouds moving slowly. Katrina was lying on a grassy hill not far from the house, crutch at her side. It had been two weeks since she had discovered the journal and she still was unable to get near the attic. As she had suspected her Mother had continued to keep an eye on her. She just heard some soft footsteps coming up the hill. Katrina sat up to see her eldest cousin coming towards her with a grin on his face "Alright there, little 'un?" he said cheerfully. That grin was soon wiped off his face as Katrina's crutch connected to his head.

"OWWWW!!!!!"

"If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand, Gustave!" Katrina said leaning back on her elbows.

"Aye…" Gustave said, rubbing the lump that was now forming on his head. He picked up the crutch and brought it back to its owner. "I won't call thee that again, even though Gramps calls thee that…"

"Only because he knows how it feels!" Katrina protested, as her cousin sat beside her "He doesn't tease me like you all do. It's not my fault that I'm smaller than you." It was true. Although it wasn't by much, Katrina was older than Gustave but shorter by at least two inches. His younger siblings were catching up too and it bothered Katrina slightly. Gustave had light brown hair and honey colored eyes, and a little freckled around his nose. His father came from Yorkshire and he brought him and his mother there to live for a time, so Gastave often spoke some in the dialect. He gave his blonde cousin a nudge when he saw she was still pouting. "Now don do that…Canna tha smile?"

"It's not you…" Katrina confessed. "It's just that…" she stopped for a minute to think. She hadn't told anyone what she had been up to in the attic and she wasn't sure if she wanted to start now. But the waiting was getting to be too much. She turned to her cousin and spoke low, even thought nobody could possibly hear from the house. "Listen, I…I have a sort of secret." She said. Gustave said nothing but nodded urging her to go on. "You can't tell Mama, Grandpa, or anyone! You won't tell?"

"Not a soul!" Gustave said.

Katrina looked back at the house one more time before turning back to her now very curious cousin. "I was in the attic a few weeks ago when I found something!"

"Whut wus it?"

"I'll show you if you help me get it!"

"Whut? Whut have thee gotten thy sen into?"

"Please Gustave! I need your help! I promise I'll explain later, but please!"

Gustave looked into his cousin's pleading golden eyes and felt himself giving in. He just hoped he wouldn't regret it.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

It was after dinner that evening that Katrina and Gustave made the trip up stairs. The adults were all in the study talking while Gustave's younger siblings were playing out front. Gustave straightened the ladder to the attic door. "Why don't thee wait while I get whut thee need?" he suggested. "It'd be quicker…"

"No, because you don't know where to look…" Katrina said. "I just need you to give me a boost, and keep a look out."

"I just hope nobody heard us come up…"

"Just keep your eyes open and your mouth shut…and give me a signal if you hear somebody coming." Katrina ordered. Gustave laced his fingers and Katrina placed her right foot in his hands. "On three." She said "One, two…", and Gustave lifted her up quick to the ceiling. Supporting herself on the ladder with one hand she lifted the door with a shove with the other. The door fell open with a thud. The cousins winced. "Hope Momma didn't hear that…" Katrina whispered as she crawled into the attic.

"Just move quickly, love! If she did hear, she'll be up any second!"

Katrina crawled across the floor where she remembered seeing the trunk. As quickly as she could she removed the dusty sheet and opened it. As she scrambled through the junk and tried to find the journal, but there must have been a lot more junk than she thought because she couldn't find it right away.

Back by the ladder, Gustave waited passing the floor. Suddenly he heard noise coming from the floor below. Footsteps, and they were deadly close to the stairs. Gustave looked up to the open attic door to call out but held his tongue. If he said anything, they'd get caught for sure. Katrina said to give the signal if he heard somebody coming. It would have been a good plan except for one flaw, she hadn't told him what the signal was! Gustave felt himself begin to panic.

In the attic, Katrina couldn't hear what was going on down stairs. Looking through the junk she saw a bunch of new things she hadn't seen before! She wished she had the time to look at them all, and she couldn't bring everything downstairs. She sighed and continued the search for the journal. She would just have to find a way to come back up to look at everything else. She shifted through some photos when she finally found leather bound book. As if on cue, Gastuve popped his head through the door in the attic floor "Katrina, hurry! Somebody be commin'!"

Katrina slammed the trunk shut and crawled towards Gustave as fast as she could, clutching the journal to her chest. When she reached the opening in the floor she swung her legs over the edge. Gustave helped carry his crippled cousin down the ladder and climbed back up as fast he could to shut the door. But then sparked a new problem: They had nowhere to run! The only way back to Katrina's room was down the stairs and somebody was already half way up! Before she could think of anything else, Katrina opened the coat closet and pulled Gustave in with her to hide among the heavy winter coats. She shut the door behind them but let open just a crack so they could see out.

The footsteps continued till they reached their floor. The steps continued towards the ladder to the attic. Katrina looked out to see her mother looking about anxiously. Lucy climbed up the ladder and peeked through the attic door. Satisfied to see that her daughter was not up there she shut the door and climbed back down. "Must be out in the Garden with Gustave again." She said softly. And with that Lucy went back downstairs, not even noticing that the winter closet wasn't closed all the way.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

"What on earth was that all about?" Gustave finally said as Katrina closed her bedroom door behind them. They had waited in that hot and crowded winter coat closet for 15 minutes before coming back downstairs. After almost getting caught by Katrina's mother they didn't want to take any chances. "Thee owes me an explanation!"

Katrina sat on her bed and looked at the leather bound journal in her hands and smiled a little. "I think you'll understand when I show you this, Gustave." She said softly.

"Whut is it?"

Katrina opened it to the first page. "Look at the name at the bottom." She said as she handed the book to her confused cousin. Gustave took the journal and took a good look at the name. His eyes opened wide as he saw it was his own grandfather's name written on the first page.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

"Look here, reviews for the ballet, Sleeping Beauty…" Al suggested.

"I don't know, Al. Think you might be a little old for Fairy Tales?" Ed said, more as a joke than anything. When his younger brother didn't answer him, Edward turned to look at him. "Hey, I didn't mean it." Ed looked at his brother. He seemed very fixated on the newspaper article. "Alphonse, is something wrong?"

"Brother…look!" Alphonse shoved the paper in his older brother's face. Edward took the news paper had held it a bit further back so he could read it. It was a review on the ballet. Ed was about to question his brother when he saw the picture. It was only a small black and white photo but Ed would have recognized her fair skin and blonde hair if he was born colorblind! "It couldn't be…" he whispered. **'Winifred Roderick, gave an enchanting performance as the Princess Aurora.' **Edward sighed as he read. He knew it was too good to be true. He gave the paper back to Alphonse and started heading back to their apartment.

Alphonse looked on, confused then ran after him. "Brother wait!"

"It's not her Al." Ed kept walking.

"What do you mean it's not her? Look at her!"

"Look at the name!" Ed stopped and turned. "It's not Winry…she's just another familiar face."

Al clutched the news paper close and tried his hardest not to show the tears that were threatening to spill from his eyes. "I just…I thought…"

"You wanted it to be her." Ed finished. He hated seeing brother pained like this. "Al, I wanted it too. I know you miss Winry, so do I." 'You have no idea how much I do…' he thought to himself. It was true; Edward would often sit up at night for hours thinking about their best friend back in Risembool, in their world. He often felt like kicking himself for coming back to this place. He had a chance to go back home, to be with his friends in his own world, but he decided to come back here. 'I had that chance, and I blew it. For both me and Al.' "I'm sorry…" he sad outloud.

Ed felt Al place a hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault brother," he said "it was my choice too." Edward looked at his younger brother's eyes. They were warm and understanding. Al always had a way of knowing exactly what his brother was talking about.

Ed looked at the news paper one more time. Al still looked at him hopefully. Finally Ed nodded. "Alright, lets see if its even possible to get tickets to this thing…"

"Yes!" Al cheered, with a huge smile on his face. Edward had to smile himself. Even though he didn't want to give his hopes up, he had to admit he was curious about this "Winifred Roderick".

(A/N: hey guys, I got more coming I promise! Please keep up the reviews!)


End file.
